What is the shortest word you can find with the most letters of the alphabet in order (Not necessarily together)

eg.
aback ABC
defrosting DEFG

What about in reverse?

eg.
feedback FEDC

Try to maximise the number of letters while minimizing the word length

(In reply to 5 OUT OF 5 by Ady TZIDON)

See the first couple comments.  ABORT does not work, as B is the second letter of the alphabet while O is not the third.

Posted by David Shin on 2005-01-20 22:47:23